New World
Story Synopsis The New World campaign is based around the idea being more than just a group of adventurers or murder hobos traveling blindly and using inordinate amounts of violence and grave-robbing to save the world. In this campaign you're a close group of allies working towards taking over and ruling your own portion of the 'uncivilized wilderness' in the new world. You'll still be able to commit lots of murder and sack several tombs, but now you'll have an over-arching goal that's driving you. Aspects of Gameplay This campaign differs from a generic/standard D&D game in the following ways: Not tailored Encounters and all they entail (Hazards, Traps, Obstacles, Monsters, NPCs, etc) will generally not be tailored towards/against any character or party composition. A lot of this campaign will be material stolen from commercial products (pre-written adventures, adventure paths, cool shit I found online). This means some 'encounters' available for the party to run into may be very difficult or even impossible to overcome based on party composition (abiltiies, skills, spells, equipment), and some NPCs/Monsters can be impossibly deadly as combatants. Information gathering, research, and strategic preparation will often be critical to success. Tactical Enemies Almost all combat will be deadly. Blundering into encounters blind or unprepared will easily result in death. Enemy combatants with the ability to do so will employ effective tactics and counter-plans. Free Roam In between story arcs the game will largely be open world and open ended. As a result there will be some adversaries, NPCs, and events that will not necessarily be scaled to the party's level (challenge rating). Raiding the dragon's lair as your first mission is unlikely to work out well, because that dragon is CR 17 and I will do little as the DM to stop you from getting yourself into (fiery) trouble. Organization/Rules/Misc Game Schedule There are three options that fit my schedule for game sessions. Times are CST. Every Weekend Games are Saturday afternoons starting at 1pm and running for 4 hours. Weeknights Games are played one weeknight (any day except Wed and Fri work for me), starting at 6pm and running for 3 hours. Every Other Sunday Games are played Sunday afternoons starting at 1pm and running for 4 hours, but only played on alternating weekends. (Opposite the 'Escape From Banality' game I am currently running). Ruleset We'll need to pick a ruleset. D&D is sort of assumed but a specific edition/ruleset will need to be selected (Pathfinder, 4th Edition, 5th Edition). If you want to toss out an idea for a different game entirely (WoD, GURPs, 13th Age, Savage Worlds, some kind of homebrew fantasy adaptation of Shadowrun or Star Wars, etc) Patron & Party As covered in the synopsis, you're adventurer-settlers. The background of why you're working together (and eventually, why you're choosing to move to this new disputed territory) are up to the players to decide. Each player character will need to determine why they're working with the party, why they work for the party's patron, and how they are tied to the area. Additionally, the players should work together to determine who their patron is. I don't normally use the Alignment system in D&D but keep the system in mind when determining what sort of party you want to be. This section will be expanded upon once a rule set is selected. Setting At the start of this campaign the party is charged by their Patron to bring order to an unclaimed territory. The land you'll be exploring and adventuring in is only sparsely inhabited and no one rules it (yet). The exact information available to you before the campaign starts will wait until your characters (and their backstories/traits/backgrounds/etc) are selected so I can determine how much you'd know. Mechanically, the territory doesn't exist yet. I'll either be generating a hex map (semi-randomly) or finding/commissioning a map online. Your characters will need to explore to see the full shape of the area.